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A BRIEF REPLA 


TO 


THE FALSE AND SLANDEROUS 



MADE BY 


V < 

BREVET LIEUT. COLONEL BALL, 


OF THE U. 8,. JIRMF. 

AGAINST CERTAIN OFFICERS OF THE UNITED 
STATES’ DRAGOONS, 


IN A PAMPHLET ASCRIBED TO HIM, AND CIRCULATED 1$ 
A CLANDESTINE MANNER. 

/2 -tyh. ' 


PHILADELPHIA-PRINTED, 




A REPLY 


TO 

THE FALSE AND SLANDEROUS CHARGES, 

MADE BY 

BREVET LIEUTENANT COLONEL BALL, 
OF THE U. S. JIRMF. 


IF the character of James V. Ball, late a brevet 
lieut. colonel of dragoons in the United States service, 
could be known to every man into whose hands his 
slanderous publication may have fallen, or if the facts 
upon which the controversy between the officers and 
himself depends were known to the few persons into 
whose hands it was given, it would not have been 
deemed necessary by me, to have exposed to the 
world the numerous falsehoods with which his pamph¬ 
let abounds. The partial representation of mutila¬ 
ted facts, where I am unknown, could not fail to 
lead to deductions unfavourable to my reputation.— 
Entertaining a proper regard for the opinions of so¬ 
ciety, I have felt myself under an obligation, in jus¬ 
tice to my own character, to examine the allegations 
which have been made, against me, and by making a 
proper developement of every occurrence to which al¬ 
lusion has been made, to place transactions in their 


6 


without any thing to mar our happiness, until, unfor¬ 
tunately for us all, the colonel’s total incapacity and 
ignorance of his duty became obvious to every officer, 
at the moment when he put himself (for the first 
time since I had served under him) at the head of his 
squadron to march us to Chazy, to which place we 
were ordered early in August. From this time for¬ 
ward, his ignorance of duty became every day more 
painfully conspicuous to every officer serving under 
him: his vanity impelled him to render it more con¬ 
spicuous to a large proportion of the army, by an 
attempt, to manoeuvre his Squadron with General 
M c Comb’s brigade, on, I think the 23d of August; 
in which attempt he made it appear manifest, that he 
knew not even a single word of command correctly: 
this left to his officers the painful and mortifying re- 
reflection, that their commander, who ought to have 
been their teacher, and who boastingly professed to 
know every thing relative to his situation, actually 
knew nothing: that he was lessening the conse¬ 
quence and confidence of the corps to which they 
belonged, in the estimation of those with whom it 
might have to act, and to the rank and file of the corps 
itself. 

The manner in which he compelled us to encamp 
—the method, or want of method, which he made us 
adopt in picketing our horses, although betraying an 
ignorance of military knowledge, that one might only 
expect to find among a people, less advanced in civil¬ 
ization than Hottentots, was all forgotten, all thought 
of his former conduct was absorbed in the feelings ex¬ 
cited by this unhappy display of stupidity. 


However, we continued to bear with all, patiently, 
and commenced our march with General Izard’s di¬ 
vision, to Champion, whence the squadron marched, 
to Batavia, on its way to Buffalo. During this march, 
the colonel, and all the other officers as well as my¬ 
self, were upon the most friendly terms—eating fre¬ 
quently from the same plenteously stored mess chest, 
belong to whom it might, and drinking in common 
out of the best filled canteen. Mark well this friend¬ 
ly intercourse , which I do not recollect to have seen, 
for a moment, interrupted, during the whole time i 
was under the colonel’s command, until about the 5th 
of October; when he, unjustly as I supposed, con¬ 
fined a valuable sergeant of mine, (of anv crime in this, 
he has been acquitted by a court of inquiry; wherefore 
I should not now introduce it, but that it is necessarily 
connected with similar and subsequent conduct of his, 
which will be hereafter mentioned, and that it goes to 
account for the hatred he conceived towards me.) 
This act of his occasioned the first coolness that I re* 
member to have existed between us; and this only 
lasted, with me, until the cause of offence had ceased, 
with the release, by him, of my sergeant—about the 
9th of Oct. when we arrived at Fort Erie. Feeling no 
longer any resentment towards him, forgiving and for¬ 
getting all that had passed, I went up to him to ask 
permission to leave camp, for a few hours; when I 
was answered: “Ah, Sir ; I cannot grant your request. 
Captain Hall, I am about to place you under an ar^ 
rest.” I was, for a moment thunderstruck ; for this 
was the first intimation I had ever received, that my 
conduct had been, at any time , exceptionable; (vide 


8 


deposition of Lieut. Elliot, Appendix A, also of Lt. 
C. Wright, E.) Notwithstanding which, and the 
friendly intercourse before mentioned, this redoubtable 
colonel, whose soul is the residence of duplicity, was 
keeping a Black-Book , and had made a registry against 
me therein, from within a month of the time when I 
joined him; as will appear from a perusal of the 
charges that he exhibited, which will be set forth in 
the sequel-^-for his memory could not have retained 
the date and place of such insignificant transactions. 
To his answer, I observed, that my only regret was on 
account of the time which he had chosen for this arrest 
(for at this time we expected soon to meet the enemy) 
and immediately tendered him my sword; when he re¬ 
plied, that he would send his adjutant for it; which he 
did in a few minutes. I immediately applied to Gen. 
Brown, then commanding, (General Izard not having 
yet joined us) for a suspension of the arrest, until after 
the campaign, which was not expected to continue 
above ten days. General Brown immediately sent 
his adjutant general, Col. Gardner, to inquire of Col. 
Ball, the nature of the charges. Ball stated, that 
the charges were of so serious a nature that he could 
not agree to a suspension of the arrest; (vide appen¬ 
dix, K,) and indeed, in this private interview, repre¬ 
sented my conduct as so unpardonably bad , that the 
General did not feel himself at liberty to suspend the 
arrest; but declined acting in the case, observing, 
that General Izard would arrive in a few days, when 
he would refer it to his consideration. Thus did 
Ball, most falsely, and most basely misrepresent nrf 




9 


conduct to Col. Gardner, as will clearly appear when, 
I shall have produced his serious charges. 

Between the time of my application to Gen. Brown 
and the arrival, a few days afterwards, of Gen. Izard, 
several officers, high in rank, waited on Col. Ball, 
to procure a suspension of the arrest; but none of 
them ever, with my knowledge, or approbation, made 
any acknowledgments or promises for me . 

Upon General Izard’s arrival, I instantly waited 
upon him, with the same application, that I had made 
to Gen. Brown; that is, with a request that he would 
suspend the arrest. With Gen. Izard, I had several 
interviews; and he must perfectly recollect that I in¬ 
variably refused to make any concessions to Ball—this 
the General did propose, saying, “ Really from Ball's 
statement , Captain, you are in the wrong” (at this 
time the charges had not made their appearance, al¬ 
though solicitations had been made for them by Cap¬ 
tain Hopkins in person, and by myself in writing) up¬ 
on my refusing, most positively to make the proposed 
concessions, the General ceased to urge me, observ¬ 
ing, “ that he would be very sorry to persuade me to 
do so if I considered it improper.” Thus the matter 
continued, when Gen. Bissell, who also interested 
himself in my behalf, sent for me, and observed that 
there was one way by which I could get my sword, 
for the campaign: It was for me to consent that Ball 
should withdraw" the arrest, (which he was very wil¬ 
ling to do) and that after the campaign, I might de¬ 
mand a court of inquiry; which, General Bissell de- 
B 


m 


dared, could not be refused. 1 told him I had not 
yet seen the charges; and that, if I consented to the 
arrests being withdrawn, Ball would hereafter say, as 
he had already said to Col. Gardner, that the charges 
were of a very serious nature. The General replied, 
that he must produce the charges first, of course; 
consequently, Ball did produce the charges; and left 
them at Gen. Izard’s tent, on the fourth day after I 
had been arrested. They were of the most con¬ 
temptible nature, as will presently be seen : yet did 
this creature declare them to be of so serious a nature , 
that he could not possibly consent to a suspension of 
my arrest, until after the campaign! I was ordered 
to Gen. Izard’s tent, where, upon a camp stool, lay 
Ball’s monstrous charges. I then, for the first time, 
saw them; and here reader, observe the serious 
charges brought against me, by Brevet Lieut. Col 
James V. Ball. 

“ Charges and specifications, exhibited by Lieut 
Col. Ball, against Capt. Henry Hall. 

Charge 1. Disobedience of orders. 

Specification 1. In not attending to the cleaning 
and feeding his horses, at the mid-day cleaning and 
feeding hour, at Chazy, New-York, on the 18th Au¬ 
gust, it being a breach of a Dragoon order, dated 
Plattsburgh, 1st June 1814, and a breach of a dra¬ 
goon order dated, Camp Chazy, 17th August 1814. 

Specification 2. In refusing to permit the waggon, 
containing the hospital stores, and the baggage of the 


11 


Jield and staff of the squadron of dragoons to cross, 
* at the Ferry at Buffalo, New York, before the other 
baggage of the squadron was crossed ; in direct viola¬ 
tion of my order, delivered to him, through the act¬ 
ing adjutant of the said squadron, on the-. 

Specification 3. In not turning out to attend to 
the cleaning and feeding of his horses, at reville, at 

Fort Erie, on the morning of the-, as directed, 

by the dragoon order, dated Plattsburgh, 1st June, 
1814, and the dragoon order, dated, Camp Chazy, 
17th August, 1814.* 

Charge 2. Contempt or disrespect to the orders of 
his commanding officer. 

Specification. In lying on his bach, in his tent, with 
the walls tied up, which exposed him fully to the view 
of his troop and his said commanding officer, during 
the hour of cleaning and feeding his troop, on the 
18th August, at Chazy, in the state of New-York, in 
■contempt to a dragoon order, dated at Chazy, August 
17th 1814. 

Charge 3. Disrespect to his immediate command¬ 
ing officer. 

* W. Tyndall Major of the first Regt. of Life Guards, says page 2. 

“ The Troop duty of the subalterns is to command and inspect thenon- 
commissioned officers and their squads ; to attend to \\\e feeding, shoeing 
and physicing of the Horses.” 

Again page 4—“ The orderly officer’s duty, is to be always ready to at¬ 
tend the commanding officer at a minute’s warning; to visit the sick men 
and horses. Ac.” Yet Col. Ball by his orders, makes it the duty of every 
officer to spend at least three hours a day in the stable—in fact, compelled 
us to do the duty of non-commissioned officers. 




12 


Specification. In treating with disrespect his said 
commanding officer, by words and gestures , while in 
the execution of his duty at Boonville, New York, 
on the morning of the-. 

Charge 4. Repeated disobedience of orders and 
neglect of duty. 

Specification. In repeatedly neglecting to attend 
to his troop at the stable hours, while on the march 
from Champion to Buffalo, in the state of New York, 
in disobedience of a dragoon order dated Camp, near 
Champion, 21st September, 1814. 

JAMES V. BALL, 

Lieut . Col. Dragoons .- 9 

Here I would remark, that I have strong reason to 
believe, that Col. Ball sent to the war office, charges 
different from the above, and purporting to be copies 
of the original (which arc in his own hand writing, 
and now in my possession) and endorsed upon them, 
that they might differ , from the originals, which were 
made out in a hurry , (he was four days about it) or 
something to that effect. But whatever amendations 
or exaggerations Ball may have made, still they ap¬ 
peared to the Secretary of War, to be of a most frivo¬ 
lous malicious nature, and unworthy the attention of 
a court of inquiry, (vide appendix J. and L.) 

Having read the aforegoing charges, I agreed to 
say to Ball, which I did, in the presence of several 
officers, that u X never had intentionally disobeyed 



13 


his orders; or, knowingly treated him with contempt, 
and that I would obey his orders.” What else could 
I have said, it was a fact that I never had disobeyed 
his orders, and it was also a fact, that as my superior 
officer I was bound to continue to obey him; feelings 
I could not keep but they were repressed from a sense 
of public duty. 

But, upon no terms would I consent that the charges 
should be withdrawn, until Gen. Izard promised that 
I should have a court of inquiry, so soon as the con¬ 
templated operations would permit. 

About the 22d October, the army encamped, oh 
its return from Chippewa, opposite to Black Rock. 
So soon as I heard that Major General Brown, with 
his division, was about to recross the Niagara, on, I 
think, the 24th, I waited upon General Izard, and re¬ 
quested the court of inquiry that he had promised me ; 
stating to him, that as Major General Brown’s divi¬ 
sion was about to recross the Niagara, and I had been 
arrested in the face of the whole army, I wished for a 
trial before it was divided; he replied, that I could 
not then obtain a court of inquiry, as the movement 
which the army was about to make, would render it 
impracticable—but assured me I should be satisfied at 
another period. 

When General Izard’s division had followed Gen. 
Brown’s, across the Niagara, I once again waited on 
him, and reminded him of his promise to grant me a 
court of inquiry, he again assigned some excuse for 
not ordering one; renewing bis assurances, that I 


14 


sliouId be gratified, when the men were comfortable 
In their huts. About the 1st November, finding that 
General Izard, from pressure of business, or some 
other cause, had net yet ordered the court of inquiry, 
so often promised, and hearing the dragoons were 
about to be marched from Buffalo, where the chief 
part of his division was stationed, and knowing that 
some of the dragoon officers, (all of whom were my 
witnesses) because of indisposition, and for other rea¬ 
sons, expected furloughs; I again applied, through 
the assistant adjutant, Adjt. Gen. O’Connor, to Gen. 
Izard, for a court of inquiry. I was informed by the 
Adjutant-general, Col. Charles K. Gardner, that the 
General endorsed upon the written application of Ma¬ 
jor O’Connor, “ This request shall be granted, so 
soon as the service will permit” or in words to that 
amount; (vide Appendix G.) yet we the dragoons, 
were permitted to march to Williams-Ville, eleven 
miles from Buffalo, and thence, to the Genesee river, 
where we halted, without this so often reiterated pro¬ 
mise being complied with. Colonel Gardner’s letter 
(see appendix G.) will shew that I was extremely de¬ 
sirous to have a court of inquiry upon the Colonel’s 
charges. 

Having shewn how repeatedly and ineffectually I 
applied for a court of inquiry, and how solicitous I 
was for an investigation of my conduct, I shall pro¬ 
ceed to make an application of evidence relative to 
die charges brought against me. 


I will admit, that though the orders, with a violation 
of which I am charged, were not promulgated to the 


15 


squadron after 1 joined it, yet they were binding upon 
me; and it was my duty to have become acquainted 
with them, provided they had ever been regularly and 
legally published: this however does not appear to 
have been done: Lieut. Elliot, (vide appendix D.) 
says, that he had seen them, but never heard of their 
promulgation; and lieut. Wright deposes (vide ap¬ 
pendix E.) that he did not remember that they were 
ever promulgated, and that they never were read on 
parade . How venial then must have been my con¬ 
duct, granting it to have been in violation of his or¬ 
ders, which were, in fact, without publication, mere 
nullities! But conceding their publication, in what 
light does my conduct appear? Let the depositions 
marked D. E. and F. answer this. 

Relative to the second specification of the first 
charge, I would observe, that in advancing towards an 
enemy the baggage should be in the rear, and next 
after the troops, it is the order of march for the am¬ 
munition to precede all other articles appertaining to 
an army; then comes the baggage of companies or 
troops, according to their numerical order in the line, 
in the next place comes the baggage of the field and 
staff; next and last of all the subsistence in order, is 
the hospital. This will be found to be the order of 
march, from a reference to military works. The 
grounds of this specification were the true cause of 
my arrest. 

Could I have obtained the court of inquiry, I was 
promised, that I expected, and that I was entitled to 
-—I could have proved the impossibility, from a com- 


16 


bination of circumstances, of executing this selfish or¬ 
der of the colonel’s, which, could I have obeyed, I 
would, as in duty bound, have done—although the 
result would have been, that my troop, one hundred 
and upwards strong, (and some of them sick) would 
have been compelled to have lain without shelter, 
“ in the frost” as the colonel did (by the by, the co¬ 
lonel’s tent arrived in camp before 11 o’clock at night, 
but his temper being up, he would not have it pitched) 
tills was the real cause of my arrest! Had he conde¬ 
scended to have asked me the reason, of his baggage 
not having crossed, agreeably (as he says) to his or¬ 
ders, before the troop baggage —I could have satified 
even him of the impracticability of my obeying his 
(pretended) order—but no—he, from some cause, to 
me unknown, had conceived a hatred for me, and se¬ 
lected the time he thought most likely to wound me 
—we all expected a renewal, on the same theatre, of 
the gallant scenes so short a while before exhibited, 
on the Niagara frontier, [and he determined to de¬ 
prive me of any chance of participating in them. The 
best comment that remains to be made, will be found 
in the appendix E. and F, 

Upon the third specification, captain Hopkins’ de¬ 
position, (appendix F.) will be a sufficient remark, 
it will be seen there, that the generous colonel, ex¬ 
cused lieut. Anspach, (who had been upon duty with 
me the two preceding nights) from attending stable 
duties at revelle, on the morning of the —— at Fort 
Erie—-but brings it against me in this specification 
of his first “serious charge 



17 


Respecting the second charge and its specification, 
i will remark, that the position of which it complains, 
was that which, according to its own showing, gave 
me an opportunity of attending to my troop, from 
the place where I was—but the order itself imposing 
the duty, with the breach of which I am falsely charged, 
was unmilitary.—Vide also, Appendix D. E. and F. 

The third charge and specification will be sufficiently 
answered by refering the reader to Appendix E. but 
I will briefly add, that the Colonel, who is so very 
fond of fighting (seelieut. John L. Elbert’s deposition 
Appendix A.) permits me to treat him with “ contempt ” 
and “ disrespect ” at sundry times, without his taking 
the smallest notice of it, by “ word or gesture ,” for two 
months ; and then, the notice he does give it, is to 
select a timebvsX calculated for his malicious purpose, 
to arrest me for “ treating him with contempt f repeat¬ 
edly—- Poor colonel! Alas ! poor colonel! ! ! 

Upon the subject of the fourth charge and specifica¬ 
tion, I will refer the reader to the Appendix D. F. 
indeed I would refer to the Appendix, generally for 
information respecting the'charges. 

Colonel Burns’ letter (Appendix H.) will speak for 
itself. 

Bali is a cringing, fawning, hypocritical sycophant 
to his superiors; he is a pleasant companion to those 
who will fawn upon him, but a tyrant towards those 
whom he cannot induce to defile their tongues with 

falsehoods, by extolling and puffing him into notice. 
n 


18 


Ball appears to attach great importance to my 
having stated, that a certain horse was in a lot with 
public horses, upon a particular day: Does it appear 
to any man impossible that he should have been there , 
as I stated, and afterwards purchased out of a stable r 
as Ball asserts ? Does it seem impossible that his as. 
sertion and my statement should be reconciled? Or is it 
not within the pale of probability at least , that, admit, 
ting him to tell the truth, what I stated was not 
inconsistent with truth? The fact is, that this horse> 
among others, had been offered to captain Hopkins and 
myself or at least such is my present impression; and 
though he was sold to major Appling for one hundred 
dollars, was, in our estimation, of so little valu e that 
we refused to take him for a dragoon horse. 

Respecting the false report of carpenters, a cir 
cumstance upon which he lays much stress, I would 
observe that many men (by the improper orders of 
Ball) were transferred to'my troop, unaccompanied by 
descriptive lists —and this Ball and every officer of 
dragoons is acquainted with. When called upon to 
report the number of carpenters in my troop, I sent 
my acting orderly sergeant, Aquila Brown, to find 
out the number: he made his report to me—this 
report I sent to Colonel Ball. When the men detailed 
were put to work, they proved to be only good axe 
men.—(vide Appendix C.) Every officer in the 
army, and I doubt not, all persons who read this state, 
mentand sergeant Brown’s deposition, (Appendix C.) 
will at once declare, that the method I adopted was 
correct, was the only one left me, and will instantly 


19 


acquit me of having either made a false report, or been 
guilty of gross misconduct—as to my ever having 
confessed either the one or the other, as Ball states 
—it is most basely untrue. 

The difference between the statement of sergeant 
major Grimes and mine, relative to the employment 
of Harvey upon Ball’s hut, can be abundantly ac¬ 
counted for, without any difficulty. 

Harvey was detailed for colonel Ball's fatigue , (vide 
Appendix C.) after he had left my command for that 
of the sergeant major’s, there might have been some 
new arrangement made respecting his duty: with this 
circumstance I was not, nor could I be acquainted : I 
only knew (and it was not my duty to know more) 
that he was detailed as above stated. Suppose it 
conceded as a fact, that I was deceived relative to the 
exact quantity of work performed by Harvey, upon 
the colonel’s hut, which might have happened, as I 
was, during a great portion of the time, while we 
were hutting, upon the sick report, and when well, 
seldom approached his hut, (in consequence of his ill 
conduct towards me,)—does this go to prove that he 
was not there, while the men were suffering from ex¬ 
posure to the inclemency of the depth of winter, 
having no other protection than tents? (vide Appen¬ 
dix B. and C.) The colonel, after laboring hard to 
make something out of this circumstance, mars his 
whole work by saying—“ And with this fact had 
captain Hall have done his duty to his troop, he 
must have been acquainted.” Here the coloneRs 


20 

native ingenuity appears to have forsaken him, for he 
admits, by implication, that it was at most only a 
mistake : indeed it is self-evident, that if I was wrong- 
in my statement relative to the work done by Harvey 
for the colonel; that it was, as the colonel admits, a 
mistake ; for Harvey himself and hundreds of others, 
were on the spot , whom I must have known, would 
have been produced against me. 

And here let me remark, that he has charged every 
officer who has given testimony against him, with for¬ 
gery ; and I verily believe that had every officer in the 
United States army appeared against him, he would 
in like manner, have brought the charge against them 
all, and have supported it as he has done in the present 
case— by jalse and exparte testimony , by a distortion of 
facts, and by mutilated records . 

However disagreeable the task, and however reluc¬ 
tantly I undertake it, yet it is imperiously my duty to 
shew that, though it was not satisfactorily proved, that 
colonel Ball behaved cowardly upon an occasion 
whence he has tortured his brain to infer grounds of 
censure upon captain Hopkins and myself, he is an 
errant coward and poltroon ; and to set forth my rea¬ 
sons for now proclaiming him to be such : this I shall 
do after narrating some facts relative to the passage 
of the Niagara. They were as follow : Some time 
during the month of October, 1814, while we were 
crossing the river, coming over into the United States, 
some British dragoons were discovered reconnoiter- 
:ng us. Ball, when the fact was ascertained, jumped 


21 


into a large boat which I had just procured to facili¬ 
tate the transportation of my troop, and in a vocife¬ 
rous manner, with apparent trepidation, damned the 
men that were in it, ordering them to make more haste ; 
and did depart thus, before the boat had taken in 
much more than half the number of men and horses 
that it could and ought to have carried: thereby in¬ 
creasing that delay which he affects to think highly 
blameable ; and which he has brought into notice merely 
to divert the attention of the community from his own, 
misconduct, in leaving his command, at a time when, 
had he been a man of military science , he would have 
perceived that his presence might have been neces¬ 
sary, and all principles of duty demanded of him to 
remain. I perfectly accord with the colonel, that the 
apprehension of danger at such a time ought not to 
be taken as a proof of any man’s bravery, but I 
would ask the world to judge of such conduct exhibit¬ 
ed by the colonel upon such an occasion. 

In the following statement of facts will be found the 
reasons that have convinced me that colonel Ball is a 
man of that cowardly character which I have ascribed 
to him. He had very frequently , during some happy 
convivial moments of the evening, in the presence of 
his officers, declared himself willing to give any of 
them personal satisfaction, should he give them cause 
of offence (vide appendix A .) Finding that there was 
no probability of my receiving satisfaction through the 
medium of a court of enquiry ; since I had so repeat¬ 
edly and vainly applied for one—and feeling myself 
injured by his conduct towards me—his endeavoring 


22 


in secret to poison the minds of my superior officers, 
and blacken my character in the estimation of the. 
army, I addressed to him the following note : 

“ Dragoon camp , near Avon , 21 stNov. 1814. 

“ Sir, 

“ For the repeated injuries you have done me, 
if I demand satisfaction in the usual way, will you 
waive rank, so as to put yourself on an equality with 
me ? 

“ yours, &c. 

“ HENRY HALL. 

“ Lieut. Col. James V, Ball ” 

Receiving no answer to the above note, I three days 
afterwards again addressed him thus : 

“ Dragoon camp near Avon , Nov. 24, 1814. 

“ Sir, 

“ On the 21st inst. I addressed a note to you, 
which has not yet been answered ; let your determina¬ 
tion be as it may, I am, as a gentleman, entitled to a 
reply. 

“ yours, &c. 

“ HENRY HALL. 

“ Lieut. Col. James V. Ball.” 

In answer to which I received the following : 

“ Dragoon camp , Avon , Nov. 25, 1814. 

“ Sir, 

“It is in vain to expect any other answer upon 
the subject of your letter of the 21st inst. until I am 


made acquainted with the grounds of your com¬ 
plaint *. 

“ I am unconscious of having done you an injury, 
or even of giving you cause of the slightest displea¬ 
sure, nor can I conceive what the many injuries are, 
unless you contest my official acts, viz. speaking to 
you upon points of duty, arresting you for disobe¬ 
dience of orders and neglect of duty, and sending to 
you to desist, when violating the known and established 
military rule of not permitting the discharge of fire 
arms in camp,* into injuries ; for such acts I am 
accountable to my government only. 

“ Yours, &c. 

“ JAMES V. BALL, Lieut . CoL 

“ Capt . Henry Hall — Present .” 

To which I immediately replied— 

“ Dragoon Camp , Avon, 25th November, 1814. 

4< Sir, 

“ Your letter of this instant has just been 
handed to me. You say—“ It is in vain” for me 
44 to expect any further answer upon the subject of my 
letter of the 21st instant, “ until ” you are 4 ‘ made 
acquainted with the grounds of my complaint .” 

“ I did not think you could possibly be at a loss for 
“ the grounds of my complaint;” but as you have 


* Note —It was not myself, but another officer, that was firing at the 
time /received the colonel’s message ; I did not tell him that I was not 
the person. On this score I had no complaint. 


24 


assured me you are, you shall no longer remain in 
ignorance. 

“ First—Your arresting me upon the first day of my 
joining a division of the army, to which I was a 
stranger , and upon charges the most frivolous, which 
I could have proved to be so, had you not kept'me in 
ignorance of the charges until it was too late to pro¬ 
cure a court; to wit, for four days, and to chagrin me 
still more, the time chosen for this arrest was when we 
were daily expecting to march and meet the enemy. 

“ Secondly—Your opposition to my getting a sus¬ 
pension of the arrest; stating to colonel Gardner, 
adjutant general, that my conduct w T as such as to ren¬ 
der it impossible for you to get your squadron on with 
me—and 

<c Thirdly—Your telling major general Izard, that I 
had reason, for a long time, to expect my arrest, before 
it took place ; when so far from it, my astonishment 
was never more excited, than when told, a few minutes 
before the arrest was served , that I was about to have 
my sword taken from me. 

“ These, sir, are “ the grounds of my complaint 
could they be more weighty ? To have my character 
blackened in this manner to the two chiefs of the 
army, whose good opinion it was my duty, as well 
as most earnest wish, to merit ? 

“ These, sir, were the injuries which produced my 


25 


note of the 21st, and to which I now wish your an¬ 
swer. 

“ Yours, &c. 

“ HENRY HALL. 

c ‘ j Lieut. Col. James V. Ball.” 

Ball, after having invited a challenge (vide Appen¬ 
dix A.) and cowardly refused it, went with the tale, 
school-boy-like, to General Izard. It was not until 
after this time, that I (no longer entertaining any hope 
of having a court of enquiry upon my conduct, and 
thereby obtaining a refutation of my enemy’s serious 
charges, or of receiving personal satisfaction from the 
recreant Ball) addressed a memorial to the secretary 
of war, which produced his observations, contained in 
the Appendix J. and L. 

Ball, in the 23d page of his book, in relating what 
he calls the motives of his accusers, says, that I did 
not regard my pledge , or keep my promise inviolate, 
after I was liberated from my arrest. What my pledge 
was, and the nature of my promise, have been here¬ 
tofore related. (Vide page 16.) How the one or 
the other has been violated, the public may determine. 
The insinuation contained in his assertion, that I was 
liberated from the arrest, is intended to deceive, and 
covers a low cunning intention to make an im¬ 
pression that at the time I received my sword, I 
also, received from him a pardon of my heinous trans¬ 
gressions against the military laws of my country, and 
my repeated manifestations of contempt for him and 
his orders ! How gross a violation of candor, and how 
D 


2b 


gross a violation of truth ! But it is just what might 
be expected from him who has bid adieu to all the 
honorable feelings of a gentleman. 

Prosecuting his exposition of motives, he attacks 
Captain Hopkins, saying—“ He,” Captain Hopkins, 
“ knew me to be in possession of the fact , that two 
horses, which he kept, &c. as private property, were 
public dragoon horses—that he pryed into his hav¬ 
ing converted leather, drawn for the use of his troop, 
to his own use,” &c. Mean, unprincipled creature ! 
He was in possession of the fact, and yet associated 
with Captain Hopkins, and boasted of his friendship 
-—instead of bringing him to an account with his go¬ 
vernment, and to exemplary punishment; he suffers 
this gross misconduct to sleep in oblivion, until his. 
revengeful disposition is excited into action by the 
endeavor of Hopkins to bring him to account for hk 
(as he supposed) improprieties of conduct. I say as¬ 
sociated with Hopkins—yes, for years , after he had 
been u in possession of the fact;” for, if I am not much 
mistaken, Hopkins was in possession of, and claimed 
the horses Ball speaks djf, from 1812, when he entered 
the service, under Ball-\-I know I never heard a doubt 
of their being Hopkins’ horses, for the twelve months I 
served" with him and Ball , until after Hopkins had 
drawn up the charges against Ball. And I well re¬ 
member, that when Ball excited this doubt, that 
Hopkins satisfied every officer (that he conversed with 
on the subject) of his right as fully, to those horses, 
as he could to the coat on his back . He had pryeb 


into the affair of the leather too;—and for what pur¬ 
pose ? That he might be tried and punished for it ? 
No ; for he never charged him with it, until he found 
that the captain had united in a memorial to the se¬ 
cretary of war, requesting an enquiry into Ball’s 
conduct: this was what called these circumstances 
before the world, if they ever existed* 

The facts of this leather are simply these: Hopkins 
and Wright had procured furloughs to go to Wash- 
ington, and were as destitute of money as officers at 
many hundred miles distance from home, without 
having seen a pay-master for many months , might be 
expected to be. A portmanteau was necessary, both 
for Hopkins and Wright—Hopkins., from his antici¬ 
pated long journey, could not spare money to purchase 
leather ; he, therefore, spoke to the quarter-master of 
our regiment to purchase for him the requisite leather 
—he did so ; and Hopkins had his portmanteau made. 

When Hopkins returned, upon the expiration of 
his furlough, he paid the quarter-master for the lea¬ 
ther, and took his receipt for it. Long after this , 
Ball arrested Hopkins, and to his charges (in each of 
which was nothing but malice displayed) added this 
as an instance of peculation i 

Hopkins, from the approaching reduction of the 
army, could never procure a court martial. He re¬ 
turned home, but he carried with him proofs as strong 

as holy writ” of his innocence of this charge. 


28 


This prying colonel is really much indebted to me 
for stopping his charge against Wright, for an impro¬ 
per use of public leather—for he knows that I pre¬ 
vented his bringing this charge against Jf right <— 
which would, upon a true statement of the case, have 
added to his disgraced condition. 

I will here inform the public that I am not writing 
the defence of either Captain Hopkins, or any of the 
other officers (myself excepted) so shamefully attack¬ 
ed by Ball—so far from it, although I have repeat¬ 
edly written to Hopkins (from my not knowing his 
address) I have never heard from him since we se¬ 
parated at Avon, New York, in June, .1814; and 
of the address of many of the officers (whose testi¬ 
mony would be valuable to me), I repeat, I am igno¬ 
rant. I verily believe Hopkins has never seen Ball’s 
pamphlet—for I know him to be in possession of 
facts, wffiich, if he gave publicity to them, would 
eternally damn Ball in public opinion. Wright, I 
know by a letter a received from him, had not seen 
Ball’s pamphlet in June last, if he has since seen it. 
Ball, I strongly suspect, did not publish more than 
twenty-five of his books. But let him have published 
whatever number he may, he took good care to whom 
he distributed them, and it was by the merest acci¬ 
dent in the world that one of them fell into my hands, 
and I never, with every exertion I could make, could 
procure another copy to send to Hopkins or Wright, 
or to any of the other officers so infamously at¬ 
tacked. 


29 


1 assert, that if captain Hopkins thinks Ball’s book 
worthy a reply, he can refute every charge Ball has 
brought against him. 

It is difficult to assign the cause which could have 
urged the colonel to quote captain Hopkins’ private let¬ 
ter to him, bearing date 4th April, 1813—certainly 
nothing could have justified this violation of confi¬ 
dence. If the colonel had desired that captain Hop¬ 
kins’ opinion of him, at a certain period, should have 
been known, he might have published extracts from 
it, without exposing to the public eye, the whole of a 
communication, written in the unrestrained freedom 
of friendly intercourse, and evidently intended as 
private. But this circumstance is truly characteristic 
of the man. 

That lieut. Wright kept more horses than he was 
entitled to have, supported at the public expense , was 
known to the whole camp, he never attempted to make 
it a secret ; and it was as well known that he intended 
to account with government for the keeping of such 
horses as exceeded the number which the regulations 
of the army allowed to him. Quere—>whether was his 
conduct, in that behalf, of so reprehensible a nature 
as that of him, who, not having horses of his own, 
rode the public dragoon horses ? Wright always declar¬ 
ed that government was indebted to him for forage he 
had furnished a mounted party of dragoons, while he 
was on the eastern shore of Maryland, on the re¬ 
cruiting service. If there had been any impropriety 


30 


in Wright’s conduct, would not this immaculate 
colonel have arrested him for it ? Ball will not deny 
that he, for a long time, rode a public dragoon horse 
of my troop, not having a single horse in service, if 
he had one in the world. 

Lieutenant Watts, of whom Ball speaks in such 
disrespectful language, was aid to general Scott, was 
at the battle of Chippeway, when he behaved himself 
gallantly, and was at the sortie from Fort Erie, where 
his conduct was such a to procure him a brevet. 

That lieutenant Sterling was raised from the ranks , 
is a rank falsehood—and as to dejicie?icy of intellect, 
let his letter in the Appendix (M.) speak. He was 
an excellent drill officer, a complete disciplinarian, 
and could have taught Ball his duty, if pride would 
have permitted him to take lessons; though he was 
shamefully deficient. 

The colonel has accidentty told the truth, when he 
himself brings the serious” charge against Sterling, 
of being an Irishman. His objection to poor Ster¬ 
ling upon this score, must be of that gentlemanly, li¬ 
beral, and benevolent kind, which has on more than 
one occasion been manifested again st the talents and 
genius produced on the beautiful little oppressed spot 
from which he came; for he cannot object to him 
simply on account of his being a foreigner—for two of 
his own honorable witnesses, Parris and Rowland, 
have this unpardonable sin to answer for ; the fot- 


SI 


mer is a Dutchman, and unfortunately for himself, 
without one good principle—the latter is a French¬ 
man, and Parris is an angel compared with him in 
honesty. 

Lieutenant Anspaeh, after serving, for five years , 
in the regiment of dragoons, in the capacity of a ser¬ 
geant, was, upon the recommendation of officers of that 
regiment, commissioned. This circumstance, if it 
proves any thing, proves neither a dejiciency of intel¬ 
lect nor xvant of principle (unless we should suppose 
that all the officers, who recommended him, were 
such men as Ball would fain have the world believe 
him to be)—but as evidence of his merit, lieutenant 
Anspaeh, has at least once, and I believe twice, been 
spoken well of in general orders, for his conduct in 
action. How ungenerous it is, to say the least of it, 
to judge of a man’s worth from his former situation 
in life ; how many instances are to be found upon re¬ 
cord, of men who hav^ risen from obscurity to the 
most eminent, as divines, as statesmen, in the fields 
and at the bar, Ball’s observations, though they flow¬ 
ed, not from want of generosity alone, but from that 
united to the malevolence of his disposition, and a 
dire and malignant thirst for revenge. 

Cornet Caldwell was also commissioned, in conse¬ 
quence of his good conduct, after having served 
twelve months as a sergeant in the second regiment of 
dragoons. What Ball’s opinion of him was, before 
he forfeited it in the performance of what he conceiv¬ 
ed to be a duty, may be discovered in Appendix A. 


32 


The circumstance of the wanton outrage at Lima* 
(so called by Ball) was simply a fracas between lieut. 
Sterling, lieut. Anspach, cornet Caldwell, and sword 
master Sandford, with some of the citizens of that 
town. The officers were overpowered by numbers, 
and being unacquainted with the citizens of that coun¬ 
try, were not able to give the excessive security re¬ 
quired, (of, I think, several thousand dollars) and were 
consequently committed to jail—where, after remain * 
ing some time, and the true statement of the case 
becoming understood, two as respectable citizens as 
any of Canandagua, and who were total strangers to 
the confined officers, voluntarily became their security 
for their^appearance. The officers appeared at the 
next term, stood their trial, and the heaviest fine im¬ 
posed on any of them was fifty dollars . A very 
important witness on the part of the officers had left 
the neighborhood. 

The colonel himself is not ‘ 6 withouHiis merit” in 
a similar story—for an “ outrage” he committed on a 
citizen of Rome—he was pursued by a sheriff, and 
if I am not very much mistaken , was advertised as a 
fugitive from justice, and a reward offered for his ap¬ 
prehension. 

I will now bestow' some little attention to such of the 
witnesses as I am acquainted with, whom Ball parades 
in his appendix. 

The first gentleman who appears to be a candidate 
for notice is Abraham Bishop, who was notorious to 


33 


the whole squadron* as a most egregious thief and liar . 
He was once taken by captain Hopkins as a waiter, 
and during his service in that capacity, not only pur¬ 
loined the captain’s clothes, but actually stole some 
small towels belonging to the tavern-keeper where 
captain Hopkins boarded;—all of which were found 
upon him. 

Then conies John W. Duffy, a man destitute of 
all sense of moral rectitude—scarcely capable of dis¬ 
criminating between right and wrong; and when he 
perceives the difference, acting as may conduce to the 
immediate gratification of a strong propensity to in¬ 
toxication with which he is afflicted. He was broken 
from being a serjeant for conniving at the stealing of 
some geese—in the benefit of which he heartily par¬ 
took. He has been heard to say, he would sxvear any 
thing for whiskey enough ! ! 

Next appears Owen Fuller and Josiah Patterson, 
two suttiers ! ! 

John Parris next presents himself—a fellow who de¬ 
serted from Carlisle, Pa. was got back into the army, 
appointed trumpet-major by Ball , (who had a know¬ 
ledge of the circumstance) and finished his military 
career by desertion. How ought we to appreciate the 
deposition of him who has in two instances violated 
the solemn obligation iij which he bound himself to us 
upon the awful presence of Almighty God. 

He next produces the deposition of William Eh 
dridge, a broken serjeant—a man of the weakest ca¬ 
pacity. 

E 


34 


Of serjeant-major Grimes, it is no more than due 
to justice, to say, that he is a man of correct deport¬ 
ment. It will be remembered that his deposition is 
so explained by that of Cornet Caldwell and also ser¬ 
jeant Brown, as to do away the apparent contradiction 
between his relation and what Ball in his 32d page 
makes me say. I repeat; makes me say—for I have 
no other record of my words than Ball’s statement. 
However, I could wish that he would (as he might 
have done) produce the whole of the proceedings of 
the court that sat upon his case; that the public might 
judge, from the testimony then recorded, of the purity 
of those motives, by which the 44 combination’* was 
actuated, and determine whether the duty of these of¬ 
ficers who signed the memorials to the secretary of 
war and preferred the charges against him, did not im¬ 
periously demand it of them ? 

If Colonel Ball had really been actuated, as he says 
he was, by a desire to make the public 44 acquainted 
with the manner in which the officers of the army” 
(meaning himself) 44 have discharged their trust;” 
why did he not publish an entire statement of the pro¬ 
ceedings of the Court of Inquiry held on him, in¬ 
stead of setting before the public a mutilated 
and false statement of facts. I do not, for a moment, 
mean to reflect on the members of the court that sat 
on Col. Ball—but honorable men may differ, and I 
venture to assert, that if Col. Ball had set forth the 
whole of the proceedings of the Court of Inquiry in 
his book , that admitting the public concurred in the 
decision that the court gave, it would be generally 


35 


Agreed upon that the colonel had escaped by an hair’s 
breadth, that his danger was ten fold more dangerous 
than what it was, when contending with a crippled In¬ 
dian whom he has so often boasted of having killed 
“ with this my sword,” that the welkin has been made 
to ring with deed. 

Ball has paraded with an affected air of triumph, se¬ 
veral depositions, to prove that he had never acted 
cruelly and tyrannically towards the men, (unfortu¬ 
nately) under his command. Beyond the time when 
the Court of Inquiry found him innocent of having 
done so, I will not search for proofs of such conduct 
in him, but it will not violate any principle of delica¬ 
cy to look among his acts subsequent to that time, for 
such an instance of tyrannical and barbarons viola¬ 
tion of the feelings and rights of American soldiers 
and citizens as would "excite the indignation of not 
only freemen but the most abject slaves to a despo¬ 
tism. 

Reader, it is unnecessary to pursue this odious 
transaction, which can hardly be thought of with 
equanimity through all its details ; but for a proof of 
the facts, I will refer you to the deposition of serjeant 
Aquila Brown, and the observation upon that of 
George Cunston (appendix C) also to the letter of 
Lieut. Sterling, (appendix M) who were all there in 
the camp at the time of its occurence. 

Having already bestowed a greater portion of my at¬ 
tention upon Ball and his book, than they are intrin : 


36 


sically worth, I shall after a few more words, bid adieu 
to them both. 

This publication can f be ascribed to no other cause 
than a vindictive disposition which hesitates not to 
descend to the level of falsehood and calumny, in or¬ 
der to asperse the characters of those who have en¬ 
deavored to represent his conduct to their government 
in its proper light, and to bring him to justice and 
punishment. Although a disgrace to the army, it was 
probably his object to regain the favorable opinion 
of his superiors which his conduct had forfeited. He 
may, perhaps, have entertained the delusive hope that 
he might be able to convince the world; and, among 
others, the secretary of war, that he is an innocent 
and injured man, and thus open a door through which 
he may again step into commission wherever a vacan¬ 
cy may occur. But I hope, for the honor of the ar¬ 
my, that, if he does entertain such an expectation, 
it may prove as delusory as he is unworthy and in¬ 
famous. 

Since writing the foregoing, I have learned that 
Lieut. Col. Ball has again been reinstated in the ar¬ 
my. An event I si nearly deplore. There are men 
of his grade who have been left out in the reduction of 
the army, who are above suspicion, and whose merit 
surpassing Ball's opinion of himself —Whereas this 
Ball , is cursed for his cruelty by hundreds of those 
men he commanded, is suspected by them of cowar¬ 
dice, and was always subject to their ridicule for his 
total ignorance of duty. 


APPENDIX. 


A. 

Hopton, March 13, 1S16. 

Dear Hall, 

I received j our letter a few days ago ; and 
can, with much truth, answer the different questions you 
have asked. Your first question is — i( Have you not fre¬ 
quently heard Col. Ball say that, when at the head of his 
squadron, he would he obeyed: but, that the moment his 
foot was out of the stirrup, he was not Col. Ball , hut Mr. 
Ball: and that, if he offended his youngest cornet, he held 
himself personally responsible to him ; or, in other words, 
clearly convey the idea that he was ready tojighl them on all 
occasions ? 

Answer. I have heard him frequently say so. 

Question. Did you, at any time previous to my being ar¬ 
rested see any change of conduct in Lieut. Col. James V. 
Ball towards me, that could possibly induce you to think 
that he looked upon my conduct in an exceptionable point of 
view ? 

Answer. I am certain that 1 never did. 

Qiiestion. Had you, at any time, reason to suppose that 
he intended to arrest me, until lie declared his intention on 
the morning when I was arrested ? 

Answer. I never had. 

Question. Do you believe that I ever had the least inti¬ 
mation that I was likely to be arrested 'till a few minutes 
before I was pounced upon ? 

Answer. No. 

Question. If I had received such intimation, are you not 
certain that I would have made you acquainted with it? 


APPENDIX. 


Answer. I am sure of it. 

Qiieslion. Have you not frequently heard Lieut. Col. 
James V. Ball say, that he thought Cornet John Caldwell, 
his acting adjutant a very good and attentive officer? 

Answer. I have, frequently. 

State of Maryland,) Be it remembered that on this 29th 
Talbot County, s. s. ) day of March, Anno Domini, one 
thousand eight hundred and sixteen, before me the subscri¬ 
ber, one of the justices of the peace of the state of Mary¬ 
land, in and for Talbot county, personally appears John L. 
Elbert. Esq. formerly of the United States’ dragoons, and 
makes oath, on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, that 
the several and respective answers to the above and fore¬ 
going interrogatories are true, to the best of his knowledge 
and belief—Sworn to before 

JOHN STEVENS, Jun’r. 

B 

Question put by Henry Ilali, Esquire, of Maryland,pate a 
captain in the regiment of light dragoons, commanded by 
Col. Burns, to John Caldwell, late a cornet in said regi¬ 
ment, now residing in Montreal, province of Lower Canada. 

“ Do you not well remember that Harvey, a carpenter of 
my troop, was a great deal employed about the huts of 
Brevet Lieut. Col. James V. Ball, at Avon, New-York, 
when his labor was much wanted upon the lints of the 
men ?” 

Answer. I do well remember that the said Harvey w as 
most of his time employed in and about the said Col. Ball’s 
huts with others, before the huts of the men were in any 
state of forwardness, and while the men were living in 
tents in winter. 


JOHN CALDWELL 


APPENDIX. 


HI 


Montreal, 19th March, 1816. 

Sworn before me, this clay, as Public Notary, by Mr. 
John Caldwell, above mentioned. 

JOS. HESAUTELS, Not. Pub. 

C 


Questions put to Aquila Brown, and his answers to them. 

1. Question . Were you not attached to Capt. Henry 
Ball’s troop, from the time when he resumed the command 
of it at Plattsburgh, in July 1814, until he left the army at 
Avon, New-York, in June 1815 ? 

Answer . Yes. 

2. Question. Was not Harvey a carpenter of Captain 
Ball’s troop, kept, during the time we were building the 
huts at Avon,New-York, on Lieut. Col. Ball’s fatigue? 

Answer . Yes. 

3. Qiiestian . Have you not, frequently, seen Harvey at 
work on Col. Ball’s quarters while we were building our 
huts at Avon ? 

Answer . Yes. 

4. Question. What were the reasons why Capt. Har 

ris’s troop crossed the Niagara River on the-day of-- 

before either Capt. Hopkins’s or Capt. Hall’s troop ? 

Answer. For the following reasons: First—Captain 
Harris’s troop had not half as many horses as eithcr 4 Captain 
Hopkins’s or Captain Hall’s troop : and second—The men 
of Capt. Harris’s troop had been a long time stationed on 
the Niagara frontier, were well acquainted with the river, 
and had procured a boat that carried over their troop, at 
one, or at farthest, two loads; whereas the other two 
troops were chiefly transported in small batteaux, that car¬ 
ried over, at most, only three horses, and frequently but 
two. 

5. Question. Did you ever know an instance of cruelty 
in Brevet Col. Ball, to any of the non-commissioned officers 


iv 


ArrENDix. 


or men under his command since the adjournment of the 
Court of Inquiry, held at Avon, on the conduct of Brevet 
Lieut. Col. Ball ? 

Answer. Yes—I remember that on St. John’s day, 
while we were still in huts, at Avon, Lieut. Col. Ball had 
the heads of serjeants Anderson, Norris, Smith and Reding, 
all of Capt. Hopkins’s troop, shaved on the public parade, as 
close as a razor could shave them, and had them put into a 
waggon and trumpeted out of the camp, to the village of 
Avon—this too, without their being carried before a court 
martial :—some of the soldiers had shaved the tail of the 
colonel’s horse, and he suspected those three persons to have 
been concerned in it. I recollect that the colonel offered his 
discharge to any soldier who would inform him who did 
shave his horse’s tail—and I heard that Morris, a lad in 
Capt. Hopkins’s troop, had given testimony against those 
three persons. 

6. Question. What was the general opinion of the guilt 
of serjeant Anderson and Reding, respecting the crime al- 
ledged against them ? 

Answer. It was the general opinion through camp, and 
deeidely mine, that both serjeant Anderson and Reding were 
not guilty. 

Question. What was the character of Morris, the young 
Informer, and what do you know of his animosity to serjeant 
Anderson ? 

Answer. I believe Morris to have been a very vicious 
boy, and I remember that he was once the cause of Ander¬ 
son’s being arraigned before a court martial ; and that he 

swore positively to Anderson’s stealing a valise_against 

which testimony the circumstances were so strong, and An¬ 
derson s character so good, that the court martial acquitted 
him. 

8. Question. Were not men frequently transferred to my 
troop from the dismounted dragoons, and often, without 
descriptive lists accompanying them ? 


APPENDIX. 


V 


Answer. Yes. 

9. Q estion. Do you recollect an order issued by Lieut. 
Col. Ball, while we were stationed at Avon, about the time 
when we commenced building huts, requiring a report of 
the number of carpenters in each troop? 

Answer. Yes. 

10. Question. By whom was the report prepared, and in 
what manner was the fact ascertained? 

Answer. The report was prepared by me, as acting or¬ 
derly serjeant. As many of the men were without descrip¬ 
tive lists, I went to each individual, whose trade I did not 
know, and took his word for it: The consequence was, 
that, many of the men who declared themselves to be car¬ 
penters, when put to work, proved to be only good axe-men. 

AQUILA BROWN, late serjeant in the 
U. S. Lt. Dragoons. 

State of Maryland,) On this 8tli day of February, 1816, 

Harford County, ss. $ personally appeared Aquiia Brown 
before me, the subscriber, a justice of the peace, in and for 
said county, and made oath on the Holy Evangelists of Al¬ 
mighty God, that the answers to the foregoing interrogato¬ 
ries are just and true.—Sworn before 

W. F. HALL. 

The first seven of the foregoing questions were put to 
George Creviston, who was a blacksmith in the dragoons, 
and his answers to them were almost verbatim the same as 
searjeant Brown’s ; with this addition, in his answer to the 
last, he says, that, he did not remember to have seen the 
young informer after he had given his information. The 
8th and 10th questions answered by serjeant Brown, were 
not put to Creviston; as, from his situation in the army, he 
was not likely to have any knowledge of the facts to which 
they related. Creviston’s answers w ere sw orn to before the 
same magistrate who administered the oath to Brown.* 

* As Arpiila Brown, late a sergeant, and George Creveston,ft blacksmith in the 
U. States’ dragoons, held such humble stations in the army, will it be amiss to 
subjoin to each of their depositions so important to me, the following: 

F 


ATTEND IX, 




D 

Questions put to Lieut. J. L. Elbert, U. S. Lt. Dragoons, 
by Captain Henry Hall, on the subject of the charges and 
specifications preferred against him by Lieut. Col. James 
Y. Ball? 

1. Question. Do you know the hand-writing of Lieut. 
Col. J. V. Ball? 

Answer. I do. 

2. Qilestion. Have you seen the charges preferred 

against me by Lieut. Col. J. Y. Ball, in his hand-writing ? 

Answer. I have. 

S. Qiiestion. Do you recollect when and where I joined 
the squadron commanded by Lieut. Col. Ball ? 

Answer . You joined the squadron commanded by Lieut. 
Col. Ball at Plattsburgh, on or about the 27th July last. 

4. Question. D© you remember to have heard those or¬ 
ders specified in the first specification of the first charge, 
promulgated to the squadron—and if so, at what time ? 

Answer. I have seen the orders, but never heard of their 
promulgation. 

Question. Do you know the manner in which the dra¬ 
goon camp was laid out at Chazy, New-York, and the situ¬ 
ation of my tent in the camp ? 

Answer. I do. 

Qiiestion. Could I not, from the situation of my tent in 
that encampment, with the walls tied up, have a full view of 
my troop when lying on my back ? 

Answer. You could. 

Qiiestion. Do the dragoon orders of the ist June and 

Of Aquila Brown, who deposes above, I will say, and challenge a contradiction, 
that previous to his entering service he was a respectable young man of Hartford 
coun'iy, against whom naught had ever been said. That during the time he was in 
service he was respected by his officers, and even during the tyrannical reign of 
Ball escaped persecution. His relations are numerous, respectable, and of inde¬ 
pendent circumstances, lie i3 now a resident of Hartford county, where he is 
respected by all who know him. 

George. (Jreveston is a native of Pennsylvania ; was enlisted by captain John 
Burd, to whom he is well known—he is also known to colonel Burn andcoionel 
Woodford, to whom I refer for his known integrity of conduct as a man and a 
soldier. Indeed 1 might refer, generally, to all officers under whom he has served. 


APPENDIX. >ii 

17th August, specify any particular position that an officer 
shall eocupy during the stable hours ? 

Answer. Certainly not. 

Question. When with the squadron on the march from 
Champion to Buffalo, in New-York, was not my attention 
to my troop equal to that of any captain of dragoons with 
whom you have served when on a march? 

Answer. It was : and superior to that generally paid by 
captains to their troops on a march, with whom I have served. 

Question. Did you not, during last fall, serve with the 
squadron formerly commanded by Major Woodford ? 

Answer. I did. 

Question. How long have you been attached to my troop ? 

Ansiver. I joined your present troop at Plattsburg, 
while it was commanded by Captain Haig, of the U. S. 
Light Dragoons. 

Question. Has not my general attention to my troop, in 
all situations, since you have served with me, been equal to 
that of any captain of dragoons with whom you have for¬ 
merly done duty ? 

Answer. It has, at least; and I have 110 hesitation in 
saying, that such of your conduct, as has come to my no¬ 
tice, has been more attentive to the discipline and duties of 
your troop, than that of any other officer of dragoons with 
whom I have done duty. 

Qiestion. Do you know any other thing relative to the 
other charges and specifications of Lieut. Col Ball,against 
me, other than what you have here answered to ? 

Answer. From my constant indisposition, I was fre¬ 
quently absent from the squadron, and know nothing of the 
charges of the specifications alluded to ; except what I have 
herein mentioned. 

JOHN ELBERT, 

Lt. U. S. L. Dragoons. 

On this day, personally appeared before me, one of the 
justices of the peace, in the county of Niagara, in the state 


APPENDIX. 


viii 

of New-York, Lieutenant John Loyd Elbert, U. S. L. 
Dragoons, and deposed that the answers to the above inter* 
rogatories are just and true, to the best of his knowledge* 
Subscribed and sworn this 2th ]\ T ov. 1814, before me, 

EDWARD S. STEWART, J. Peace* 
Williams Ville, Nov. 1*, 1814. 

E 

Questions put to Lieut. Clinton Wright. U. S Dragoons, 
by Captain Henry Hall, on the subject of the charges and 
specifications preferred against him by Lieut. Col. James 
V. Ball. 

To the three first questions, which were the same as the 
first three put to Lieut. Elbert, the same answers were 
given as were made by him. 

Question to the first charge and first specification. Do 
you remember to have heard those orders specified in the 
first specification of the first charge promulgated to the 
squadron ; and if so, at what time ? 

Answer. I do not remember that they were ever promul¬ 
gated : they never were on parade. 

Qiiestions to the first charge and second specification. 
Did you hear Lieut. Col. Ball upon our arrival at Black 
Rock, order Captain Hopkins and myself to lake, each a 
boat (there being but two provided) and cross our respec¬ 
tive troops with the least possible delay ? 

Answer. I did, distinctly. 

Question. Did you not conceive, from the order, that the 
boat furnished me, was exclusively for the use of my troop, 
and that my duty was confined exclusively to crossing my 
troop $ 

Answer. I did, most clearly. 

Question . Was the baggage of the field and staff ever 
attached to that of the troops—or under the command of 
the troop officers ? 

Answer. Never, within my knowledge. 

Question . Do you conceive that the waggon, appropriate 


APPENDIX. 


ix 


ed to the field and staff, and hospital stores, did carry the 
baggage of the field and staff and hospital stores ; or, was 
it, almost exclusively the baggage of Col. Ball ? 

Answer. I do conceive that the baggage waggon , appro¬ 
priated to the use of the field and staff and hospital stores, 
with the exception of the acting adjutant and quarter mas¬ 
ter’s baggage, which I understood, was always conveyed in 
your w aggon : that the hospital stores were of so little ac¬ 
count that they were suffered to lie on the field at our camp 
at Fort Erie. 

Qiicstions to the first charge and third specification. Do 
you know the hour when 1 arrived at Fort Erie, on the 
morning that I crossed ? 

Answer. I do not know the hour ; but I recollect that it 
was between tattoo and reveillee. 

Questions to the second charge and specification. Do 
you know the manner in which the Dragoon camp was laid 
out at Chazy (New-York) and fhe situation of my tent in 
that camp ? 

Answer. I do. 

question. Could I not, from the situation of my tent in 
camp, with the walls tied up, have a full view of my troop, 
when lying on my back ? 

Ansiver. I think you could, 

question* Does the Dragoon order of the 1st June, and 
17th of August, specify any particular position that an offi¬ 
cer shall occupy during the stable hours ? 

Ansiver. It does not. 

questions to the third charge and specification. Do you 
know my orderly serjeant Joseph Wheeler, and what is his 
character ? 

Answer. I have known him for some time, and consider 
him <o be an honest and faithful serjeant. 

qjiestion . Were you present at a conversation that took 
place between a citizen of Boonyille and myself at Boon- 
viile, on the morning of our leaving that place, on our 


X 


JLPPEJVDIX. 


march from Champion to Buffalo, Ncw-York—and if so, 
what was the conversation ? 

Answer. I was present; and well remember that it was 
in consequence of an understanding, on your part, that this 
citizen had charged, on the most frivolous cause of suspi¬ 
cion, your orderly serjeant with being accessary to a theft, 
said to have been committed on the night the dragoons lay 
near Lowville. I recollect your asking him if he was the man 
who charged your orderly serjeant with stealing? and upon 
his answering in the negative, you replied that was well for 
him; for, if he had, and your orderly serjeant had not been 
permitted to chastise him, you would have done it. 

Qiiestion . Was there any change in colonel Ball’s conduct 
towards me, after this event; or was it different from what 
it had been at Plattsburg? 

Answer'* I did not discover any change in the colonel’s 
conduct towards you ; nor could I discover from his move¬ 
ments, when with you, that he thought your conduct excep¬ 
tionable. 

Questions to the &th charge a?id specifications . Have you 
not served with colonel Burn and major Woodford, previ¬ 
ously to your serving with brevet lieutenant colonel Ball ? 

Answer. I have. 

Question. When under the command of colonel Burn 
and major Woodford, were such menial duties imposed on 
the officers as directed by the dragoon order specified in 
the first charge, third specification ? 

Answer. Never. 

Question . Have you not been with the squadron under 
lieutenant colonel Ball ever since I joined it? 

Answer'. I have, with these exceptions : I preceded the 
mounted squadron, commanded by lieutenant colonel Ball, 
with my dismounted detachment, on the march from 
Elizabeth Town N. Y. to Lake George, where I was again 
joined by him ; and I spent three days at Sackett’s Harbor, 


APPENDIX. 


xi. 

while the squadron lay at Champion, about the time that 
the army arrived there from Plattsburg. 

CLINTON WRIGHT, 

Lt. U. S. L. Dragoons. 

On this 15th day of December, 1814, before me, one of 
justices of the peace, for the county of Ontario, state of New 
York, personally appeared lieutenant Clinton Wright TJ. S. 
Dragoons, and made oath, on the holy Evangelists of Al¬ 
mighty God, that the above deposition is just and true. 
Sworn and subscribed before me, 

J. AY. LAWRENCE, J. Peace. 

F 

Deposition of captain Samuel Hopkins, in relation to 
charges preferred by lieutenant colonel James V. Ball, 

against captain Henry Hall, at Fort Erie, on the-day 

of October, 1814. 

Question , by captain Hall. Are you acquainted with the 
hand writing of lieutenant colonel Ball ? 

Answer . I am. 

Question . What do you know in relation to the first 
specification ? 

Answer. In relation to the charge, I know nothing: as 
to the specification, I can only answer generally. 

Qiiestion. Did you suppose that the Dragoon order, al¬ 
luded to in the charge, compelled you as a captain of Dra¬ 
goons, to stand by and see your whole troop cleaned, wa¬ 
tered and fed ; or did you think that it only contemplated 
a general superintendence of these duties ? 

Answer . I had no idea that it intended to make me a 
groom ; but supposed that it required me only to be respon¬ 
sible for the performance of the stable duties ; until I was 
informed by lieutenant colonel Ball to the contrary. 

Question. Do you know the manner in which the Dra- 


xii 


APPENDIX. 


goon camp was laid out in Chazy, New York ; and the si¬ 
tuation of my tent in that encampment ? 

Answer. I do remember ; because I had reason to fear 
for my safety, whenever I walked among my horses, so 
close and irregularly were they confined: I also remember 
the situation of your tent in that encampment. 

Question. Could I not, from the situation of my tent, 
with its walls tied up, have a full view of my troop, when 
lying on my back ? 

Answer . I believe that you could, in such a situation 
view the whole of your troop. 

Question. Do the Dragoon orders of the 1st of June, 
and 17th of August, specify any particular position that an 
officer shall occupy during the stable hours? 

Answer. Certainly not. 

Question. From your experience, or reading on the sub¬ 
ject, can you cite an order parallel to the above order, re¬ 
quiring similar duties of commissioned officers ? 

Answer. From experience, I can only say, that it has 
ever been my custom to assign to the non-commissioned of¬ 
ficers of my troop, their respective squads ; and to hold 
them accountable for the condition and appearance of the 
men and horses under their charge ; and this usage was 
founded upon what I have heard, and believe to be the prac¬ 
tice of cavalry in all countries. 

Question. Have you not observed frequent violations of 
this order, by the chief of our squadron—-its author ; and 
have you not known, ill consequence of its operation, the 
horses of your troop to be from morning until night fre¬ 
quently without water or feed ? 

Answer . I enquired of lieutenant colonel Ball, whether 
or not I had the right under his various orders, to direct 
when my horses should be watered and fed. He answered 
that I had not. I consequently felt that I had no control 
orcr the watering and feeding of my troop $ and my horses 


APPENDIX. xiu 

have frequently suffered for want of the proper signals, 
which, l understood could only be directed by him, when in 
camp, and which he, either from negligence or design, omit¬ 
ted ordering. 

Question. Are your horses as well attended to now, as 
when you were untrammelled by the Dragoon orders al¬ 
luded to ? 

Answer. They are not; because I have no power to 
give them either water, feed, or the necessary attendance, 
except when ordered by lieutenant colonel Ball; and he 
frequently forgets their necessities, or wilfully neglects 
them. 

Question. Do you know any thing of the second speci¬ 
fication ? 

Answer. I do not: 1 remember that lieutenant colonel 
Ball ordered me, and through me, yourself, to get both 
our troops across the Niagara river in the best way which 
we could devise ; assigning, to each of us, a boat for that 
purpose ; and saying nothing about the baggage of the field, 
staff, and hospital stores. 

Question. Would you, had you been left in my situation, 
agreeably to the above orders which you delivered to me, 
have felt yourself bound to have any thing to do with the 
baggage of the field, staff, and hospital stores ? 

Answer . Certainly not. The orders to me were con¬ 
fined to the crossing of our own individual troops ; and had 
nothing to do with the field, staff, and hospital stores. 

Question. Do you, from your knowledge, believe that 
either the baggage of the field, staff, or hospital stores had 
ever been committed to the heads of troops ; or was it ex¬ 
clusively confined to the Quarter Master, or lieutenant co¬ 
lonel Ball himself? 

Answer. It never had been assigned to my charge ; and 
i believe, was always under the special direction of the rc~ 
tin" Quarter Master, or colonel Ball himself. 

* G 


APPENDIX* 


xiv 

Question. Did the waggon, assigned to the field, staff* 
and hospital department, contain, chiefly, the lieutenaut co¬ 
lonel’s own private baggage ; or that of the staff and hos¬ 
pital ? 

•Answer I believe the acting adjutant conveyed his bag¬ 
gage in your waggon. 1 heard Dr. M’Call, acting surgeon 
to the squadron, frequently complain that he was destitute 
of hospital stores ; which, I well remember, were deemed 
of so little value, that they were left exposed and unpro¬ 
tected in the camp : and hence presume that these waggons 
were, exclusively, for the use of lieutenant colonel 
Ball. 

Qjicstion. Did you afterwards hear lieutenant colonel 
Ball complain of his uncomfortable situation, on the night 
when he was without his baggage ; and, had he been com¬ 
fortable, do you believe that, though the whole soldiery had 
been without shelter, I should have been arrested ? 

Answer. I did hear him complain grievously , from lay¬ 
ing one night in the frost; and believe that, if he had got¬ 
ten his baggage, in time to have pitched his tent, and made 
his bed, he would not have arrested you. 

Qiiestion. Do you know any tiling about the 3d speci¬ 
fication ? 

Amiver. I remember that it was after 12 o’clock at night 
when you arrived in camp ; you having been engaged until 
that hour of the second night, crossing the river ; but not 
attending the stable hours myself, 1 cannot answer as to 
the truth of this charge. I recollect that lieutenant colonel 
Ball came to my tent in the morning, soon after reveillee ; 
and, upon inquiring why 1 or my lieutenant did not attend 
the stable hours ? I answered, that both myself and lieute¬ 
nant Wright were on the sick report; and that lieutenant 
Anspaeh had crossed the river after midnight, and there¬ 
fore ought to be indulged; to which lie assented. 

Question . In relation to charge 3d and its specification 
what do you know ? 


APPENDIX. 


XV 


Answer. No thin g. 

Qiiestion. What do you know relative to the 4th charge 
and its specification ? 

Answer , I can only answer, generally, to a very vague 
and general charge. I have never served with any officer 
who attended more particularly or punctually to his duty 
than yourself ; and I believe that, to your exertions, more 
than to those of any other person, are we indebted for the 
timely and safe arrival of the squadron at Fort Erie, 

S. G. HOPKINS, 

Capt. U. S. Dragoons. 

On the loth day of December, one thousand eight hun¬ 
dred and fourteen, before me, one of the justices of the 
peace for the eouuty of Ontario, state of New York, person¬ 
ally appeared captain Samuel G. Hopkins, light Dragoons, 
and made oath, on the Holy Evangilests of Almighty God, 
that the above deposition is just and true. Sworn and sub¬ 
scribed before me, 

J. W. LAWRENCE, J. P 
G 

Newburgh , April 1 Oth, 1816. 

Dear Hall, 

Pardon me for this delay.—In the multiplicity of pa¬ 
pers I was obliged to handle, official and others, at Wash¬ 
ington, your letter was mislaid : but I assure you that this 
neglect of mine has been universal; excepting only cases of 
immediate and pressing necessity. Forgive me for saying 
that 1 never have considered yours, one of so serious a na¬ 
ture as to demand so much exertion as your nice sensibility 
has induced you to bestow upon it.—I mean to say, that at 
the time when you and your enemy left the service, your 
reputation was not tarnished; nor was it subject to any in¬ 
jury, in his power to throw upon it. 

In answer to your inquiries.—I do remember, perfectly. 


xvi 


appendix. 


your repeated applications for a court of inquiry , to major 
general Izard; ami that, on one of those, the general en¬ 
dorsed to this effect: “This request shall be granted as 
soon as the service will permit/’ and signed his name to it. 
I am not certain of the words of the endorsement, hut I 
think that the last idea was either expressed in the endorse-* 
snent, or given in explanation at the time. 

I am, Sir, with great regard, your’s truly, 

G. K. GARDNER. 

Capt. HENRY HALL 
late of Lt. Dragoons 
Havre de Grace, Md. J 

H 

Troy , February 1st , 1815. 

Bear Captain, 

I received your favor of the 17th ult, forwarded to this 
place from Utica. I have read the enclosed depositions, 
&c. and regret very much to find that a misunderstanding 
has taken place between lieutenant colonel Ball, yourself, 
and the officers of his squadron. When I had the pleasure 
of serving with you, I always found you, not only ready to 
obey the orders , but ready to anticipate the wishes of vour 
commanding officer. I never had the pleasure of serving 
with lieutenant colonel Ball, but, from what I have seen of 
him, and the general character 1 have heard, supposed him 
to be a strict and a good officer. If any person had been 
on the spot, friendly to both, when the difference, respec¬ 
ting duty arose between you, I have no doubt but it could 
have been amicably adjusted. What has been done, can¬ 
not be undone ; yet I lament, sincerely, that any occurrence 
should have rendered his command so unpleasant to him¬ 
self and you. If the court martial of which I am a mem¬ 
ber, had continued at Utica, I would certainly have paid 
you a visit, for a few days ; but its removal to this place 
puts it out of my power at present. I heard, from officers 


APPENDIX. 


xvii 

4f the army* en passant, that the officers of the mounted 
squadron, were not on good terms with lieutenant colonel 
Ball ; but I knew not the cause of the dispute, until I re¬ 
ceived your letter. 1 have always had a great friendship 
and regal'd for you ; and it will be difficult to make any un¬ 
favourable impressions on my mind; as your conduct since 
I first saw you, has been always correct and gentlemanly. 

1 beg to be remembered to the officers on duty with you, 
and to remain, with sincere regard and esteem, 

Dear Captain, your’s truly, 

JAMES BURN, Col. U. S. Lt. Dragoons. 

Capt. HENRY H LL, 1 
U. S. it-t. Dragoons. J 

l 

Extract of a letter from the Hon. Robert Wright to his 
son Clinton. 

The memorial of captain Hall was delivered by general 
Hopkins, Mr. Archer, and myself. The secretary remark¬ 
ed, that the charges were frivolous, and that he thought 
captain Hall ought to take no further notice of Ball’s con¬ 
duct, in that way*” 


Iv 

1 have some where among my papers, colonel C. K. 
Gardner’s letter, stating this fact—colonel Gardner will re¬ 
member having written me such a letter. 

L 

Washington , Dec. 16th, 1814. 

Sir, 

Your memorial has been presented to the secretary 
of War. He conceives that your honour does not require 
the institution of a court of inquiry. He stated to me, 


xviii 


APPENDIX. 


without hesitation, that he considered the charges brought 
against you, by lieutenant colonel Ball, as entirely frivo¬ 
lous ; and that he considered you had gained a triumph 
over him, by his withdrawal of the charges which ought to 
he completely satisfactory to you. I am Sir, with great 
respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

STEVENSON ARCHER 

Capt. HENRY HALL, | 

Avon, N. Y. j 

M 


Avon, June 26th , 1815. 

Dear Sir, 

Three days after your departure from this place, some 
of the men shaved or cut all the hair off colonel Ball’s ri¬ 
ding horse’s tail; and we have had the most unprecedented 
tyranny, since then, that you ever heard of. Through 
some underhand information from Bishop and Marris of 
captain Hopkins’s troop, he confined serjeants Anderson, 
Norris, Smith, and Redding, and had them ironed, hand and 
foot; and on the 24th inst. had them brought out on the 
public parade (without a trial) their hair cut off with a 
knife, their heads shaved, and finally, put into a waggon 
with a guard of a sesjeant, corporal and 12 men ; had them 
taken, bare headed, in this manner, up to Avon, to the 
brick School house and back; with all the trumpets sound¬ 
ing the rogue\ march after them. His proceedings on this 
occasion, have even excited the indignation of the citizens, 
lie and the Doctor went off yesterday to Buffalo. He says 
that he is coming back, hut I doubt it very much ; for, as 
far as I can learn, it is the determination of the whole of 
the men to shave his head, and put him in irons, should lie 
ever join the squadron again. His serving these men so, 
was so unexpected, that the men were thunderstruck ; but 


APPENDIX. 


xix 


from all appearances, they are determined to take revenge 
on his person ; and it is ten to one if he escapes with his 
life. To this violence you know my aversion, hut I fear 
the consequences. Should any thing important take place 
with us, I will let you know. Anspach’s and Sanford’s 
best respects to you. 1 am Sir, most respectfully 
Your obedient servant, 

H. STIRLING, Lieut. Lt. Dragoons. 

Mr. HENRY HALL, ^ 
late Capt. U. S. Lt. Dragoons, 

Havre de Grace, Md. J 

P. S. I forgot to mention, that he had serjeant Anderson 
gagged , for speaking while his head was shaving. Such 
treatment to a serjeant—without a trial—Surely the laws 
do not allow it! Never was military subordination so gross¬ 
ly violated. 

N 

Governor’s Island, March 2d, 1816. 

Sir, 

The pamphlet you refer to in your letter of the 2Stk 
ult. 1 have never before heard of; and not having preser¬ 
ved copies of any of my letters to lieutenant colonel Ball, I 
am unable to determine the accuracy of your quotation ; 
however, as I recollect having written something to colonel 
Ball, which hears a strong resemblance to it, if not in the 
same words, I am willing to admit the premises, and for 
your satisfaction to declare, that when i said, “from what 
“ I have seen and heard of some of them, I believe they are 
f* capable of doing any thing w hich gentlemen should not 
‘‘do,” ] had no reference to you; as I had never seen or 
heard any thing which w ould authorize such a conclusion ; 
as a private gentleman, I have every reason to believe your 
character is without reproach ; hut Sir, I wish to be express¬ 
ly understood, w ithout going further into the merits of the 
dispute between colonel Ball and lus officers, or undertaking 


XX 


APPENDIX. 


to determine whence it originated. That the manner in 
which it was conducted, on the part of the officers, met with 
my decided disapprobation, and should they generally make 
applications similar to yours, I shall be compelled, however 
reluctantly, to justify that opinion to the world, by an ex¬ 
position of their conduct during the campaign of 181 1 , and 
subsequently, while in winter quarters at Avon. 1 should 
however regret, that any personal difference should exist 
between us respecting the merits of a case, in which I am 
not at all interested; in which I am not disposed to attribute 
to you any errors of the heart, and respecting which I may 
possibly have received an improper bias, not having always 
judged from my own observation, but from the information 
of others. Very respectfully, I have the honour to be 
Your humble servant, 

J. S. SNELL1NG. Lieut. CoL U. S. Army, 
Capt. HENRY HALL, } 

Havre dc Grace, Md. j 






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